Words and Pictures: A Tribute to Maurice Sendak

This morning, we were heartbroken to hear of the death of Maurice Sendak, who is to our minds one of the best (and grumpiest) authors of all time, children’s or otherwise. Dark and jubilant in equal measure and obviously aware of the captivating hold that strangeness has on children, his life and work brought joy, weirdness, and beautiful art to grownups and kids alike, including this humble books editor, who at a very tender age memorized Outside Over There in its entirety and forced multiple performances on her peers. To celebrate the great author, we’ve collected a few of our favorite illustrations, paired with a few of our favorites of his quotes after the jump. We hope he found his William Blake-esque “yummy death” — we know he made our lives a lot yummier.

“I refuse to lie to children… I refuse to cater to the bullshit of innocence.”